Selma Movie Review: Depiction Of President Johnson In 'Selma' Sparks Controversy

Hollywood films have been known for taking liberty with historical events. Recent fact-based films, including the much touted "Selma," followed the same formula.

In "Selma," what really stirred the hornet's nest was an article written by Joseph A. Califano Jr. in the Washington Post, who said the movie "was glaringly flawed" as it depicted President Lyndon B. Johnson at odds with Martin Luther King Jr.

Califano, who worked as an aide to President Johnson, poured scorn on the people behind the film, saying they could not resist the chance of embellishing the work by taking "dramatic, trumped-up license with a true story that didn't need any of it."

Contrary to what was portrayed in the film, President Johnson never used the FBI as a tool to discredit King as he thought of him as an "essential partner," Califano pointed out.

The writer recalled numerous taped telephone conversations between President Johnson and King where the President expressed his support to the leader of the Afro-American civil rights movement, even outlining a strategy to help him succeed.

Ava DuVernay, the director of "Selma," quickly responded to Califano's article on Twitter, describing it as "offensive" and "jaw dropping." She cited an article in the New Yorker which stated that "LBJ's stall on voting in favor of War on Poverty isn't fantasy made up for a film." DuVernay's response was then taken up by Twitter users to poke fun at the apparent attempt by white historians to stake claim to major achievements of the civil rights movement.

Califano is not alone in his criticism of the film. Earlier in the week, Mark K. Updegrove, a historian and the director of the L.B.J. Presidential Library and Museum, also pointed out the flaws in the film. Writing in Politico Magazine, he stated that the movied portrayed President Johnson as "vainglorious and power hungry" which he said "flies in the face of history."